Forget Them Not
by Ichihime
Summary: Alex does and doesn’t remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers.
1. I

**_Forget Them Not I_**

_Summary: Alex does and doesn't remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers. A collection of connected oneshots._

* * *

The sudden break in silence startled her. She hurriedly bent down to pick up the dropped sheet from the floor.

"What did you say?" asked the nurse quickly, and not without a little hint of embarrassment.

"Who am I?"

"Oh, don't you remember?"

The boy stared at her with blank eyes. Amnesia?

"You're- One moment please."

The woman who was newly assigned as the boy's nurse turned to the chart on the wall.

"Alex Rider. Fourteen. Blood type O. There's a lot of classified information here, but I don't suppose you would know why? Right… And then there's your condition, but you've been briefed on that." She gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, that's all I know."

She told herself that there was no reason for nervousness, no reason to be uncomfortable around the boy. He'd been injured, and that was the reason why he had such a blank look on his face, a blank look that honestly worried her, and freaked her out.

She made a show out of looking at her watch, exclaiming an 'oh, look at the time, I've got to go' before rushing out of the room.

The boy did not move; he just sat there with that blank look, watching her leave the room.

* * *

Ian set his two – soon to be three – year old nephew down on the couch, pondering exactly how to explain this.

"Alex," he started gently. "I'm not your father. I'm not your daddy."

His nephew blinked up at him, only making a small noise of confusion. If only they hadn't gone through this at the kindergarten. It was too early for this.

"Daddy?"

"No, Alex. I'm your uncle, not your daddy."

"Unca?"

"Try 'Ian'," he suggested. "Say 'Ian', Alex."

"Ian." The boy slowly smiled. "Ian. Ian. Ian."

"Yes, that's right," Ian smiled back. "I'm your Ian."

"Ian. Ian. Ian." The boy joyfully repeated the newly learned word.

Ian picked the small boy up and hugged him carefully. Alex had been a bit slow to start to talk, but he seemed to enjoy learning.

Explaining why he was Alex' 'Ian' and not his daddy would come later. Hopefully much later. Alex was still but a baby in his mind.

"Ian. Ian."

Ian tickled his nephew and listened in joy to his laughter.

Hopefully much, much later.

* * *

Please review.


	2. II

_**Forget Them Not I**__**I**_

_Summary: Alex does and doesn't remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers. __A collection of connected oneshots._

* * *

"I remember some," said the boy quietly.

"That's very good. Is there anything in particular you feel like you're missing?" Doctor Connors raised her hand to push curly brown hair away from blue eyes and, with her left hand, scribbled something in a notebook.

"I don't know. Most of it seems to be there, I think. I know who I am and all that, but... It just feels like there are some blank spots that shouldn't be there, like there is something I'm forgetting. Something is missing." The boy looked into his doctor's eyes. "It's what it feels like. I might be wrong but..."

"You're likely right. Trust your gut feeling, Alex." She smiled down at her patient. "You're doing very well, you know."

The boy gave a small nod.

"I guess that's it for now. You'll have weekly appointments with me for the next month. We'll decide if you need more later on. Your guardian has my contact information so you can call me if anything happens. Oh, and please remember to write down your memories when they show. Even your dreams might in reality be missing memories. Is that okay?"

"Yes," said the boy, more firmly this time. "Thank you for your help, Doctor."

"Just doing my job," said the doctor with a smile. "See you in a week then."

The boy nodded and smiled slightly.

* * *

It was summer, he was sweating and he was five.

He knew how to count that far at least.

Alex gazed at his uncle as Ian demonstrated how to ask for directions in Spanish. Alex thought he got some of it.

The woman Ian was talking to answered his question and the boy noticed she wasn't speaking as quickly as the Spaniards usually seemed to talk. Alex had wondered if that was what his uncle had started with saying; how his nephew was learning the language and 'could not the lady please talk a bit slower for the boy's benefit'? He'd heard her answer 'vale', so she must have agreed.

His uncle was rounding up the talking with some well-wishing and a cheery 'gracias'.

She walked off and his uncle turned to him and bent down.

"So where should we go, Alex?"

Alex was sure he'd caught an 'izquierda' in all that talk.

"Left."

"Good. Next time you can try asking. It'll be good practice for you."

"Ok," Alex agreed tiredly. "I'm tired and hot. Can we go home now?"

"Don't you want ice cream?"

"Yes, I do. Can I have a chocolate one with sprinkles?"

"May I, Alex, and you seem to be forgetting something in that request of yours."

"Fine," Alex answered shortly with a scowl. "May I have chocolate ice cream with sprinkles, please?"

"Certainly, Alex," his uncle smiled down at him and Alex smiled right back. "Come here."

Ian lifted him up and set him right down upon his broad shoulders.

Alex thought he could see the entire world from up here.

* * *

Please review.


	3. III

_**Forget Them Not I**__**II**_

_Summary: Alex does and doesn't remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers. __A collection of connected oneshots._

* * *

"- if there's no changes you'll be released by tomorrow afternoon. I strongly suggest you take a week off from school to recuperate. Actually," the young doctor grinned. "Consider it an order. You'll be on pain meds for a while, but, as you know, you were very lucky. I doubt you'll need them in a week. Well, unless you strain yourself unduly that is. Remember, you are only to take it for so long as the pain remains hindering, as in making it hard if not impossible for you to sleep. Understood? "

The boy nodded.

"I know most of your memories have returned, so I feel that it's fairly safe to say that the rest will come by themselves. Just give them the time to do that. I'm sure Doctor Connors have already told you this, but writing down your memories as they come will help, at the very least as a way to keep track of your progress."

The boy listened to his doctor, following the conversation with ease for the first time in a while. He knew he had been lucky. The doctor really did not know how lucky.

Alex didn't know where that thought had come from.

"Ah, that's it, I suppose. I'll see you before you leave tomorrow for a last minute check up, but personally I think you're good to go. Now, there's this young lady waiting for me and I really shouldn't keep her waiting. Bad things happen when I do. As I rather like avoiding her temper… Sayonara."

The doctor flashed him another grin before leaving the room.

The boy shook his head bemusedly, grimacing as the action caused him to pull at his stitches.

He was looking forward to freedom.

* * *

He was six, nearly seven. Ian had been gone for days. The sitter looked uncomfortable where she sat and watched the boy draw a picture of his family for his tutor. He was in the process of writing nicknames. There was no 'mum' or 'dad', just 'tío', which she assumed meant uncle. For himself he wrote 'sobrino'.

There was some colour in the picture but not nearly enough for a normal child. The house was coloured a rusty red, the steps grey, the windowsills white and the curtains a light green. The stick characters both wore blue jeans, black shoes and black jackets.

There was something odd about the picture.

All of the colours fit in with the real world. It matched the house they were in and the clothes they usually wore. It was too real. She'd seen other pictures hanging on the walls of the boy's room and they all resembled this one. It was too realistic for a child. Children were supposed to have a wild imagination which translated into unreal paintings or pictures.

But this is Alex, she reminded herself. The too serious child that has tutors instead of teachers and so far speaks two languages, the independent child whose uncle is only home sixty percent of the time during the school year and the lonely child who never complains and always listens.

The poster boy for the old saying of how children should be seen, but not heard; little Alex Rider.

Of course the picture was more real than the normal drawings of a six year old child. The boy was much more mature than his year mates. She'd seen the boy's uncle talking to him as if he were talking to an adult. The boy had been extremely polite to her and he seemed to do everything right. He went to bed at the right time, did his homework neatly and he never seemed to make a mess. He was very well behaved. None of the other children she'd ever watched had ever acted like him. The sitter looked down at what Alex' was doing and tried to figure out why he was so different. She could only guess.

Alex was finishing up and she noted his satisfaction as he wrote the last letter of his name at the bottom and added the year. She rose and looked at the picture and started praising him and telling him how impressed she was and how his uncle would love to see this.

His eyes lit up in a smile as he took it in, just like a normal child.

For a moment he was just that.


	4. IV

_**Forget Them Not I**__**V**_

_Summary: Alex does and doesn't remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers. __A collection of connected oneshots._

* * *

Alex peered out of his window and down at the street. It wasn't all that busy, only a few cars and a few people were up and about, but then again, St. Dominic's Hospital didn't exactly lay in one the busiest parts of London.

And it wasn't early in the evening either.

The nurses probably thought he was sleeping. They would check up on him every other hour or so just to be sure he was there. Alex got the feeling that the guards made them do it.

He couldn't remember there being guards in the hallways on his last visit. The hospital was supposed to be safe and secure, the doctors and nurses boasted that it was, but he thought they were overdoing it just a bit. There must have been about a twenty guards lingering about in the hallways.

He thought for a moment, still gazing out at the street.

However, he could sort of understand. He could remember something about being kidnapped from the hospital the last time he 'visited'. Of course, he kind of made himself become kidnapped, but the kidnappers still got into the supposedly secure hospital somehow.

The new guards would definitely prevent that from happening again unless an army attacked.

Alex didn't really like hospitals or being hurt all that much. It usually meant that he was restricted to one room during the time spent healing. He wanted to be allowed to do as he wished. But with his wounds this time it would be a couple weeks before he could even start training football again safely, according to his doctors.

He'd have to bear with it at least until he got home to his own room and then he had to wait until Jack got over being overprotective.

He'd endure it and work on Jack, as usual. It's not like this was the first time, or even the second time, he'd had to do this.

Alex went back to bed and lay down, gazing up at the white ceiling.

If only he could fall asleep.

* * *

Alex was seven and looking down at the living room from the top of the stairs while he practiced his listening skills. Ian would call it eavesdropping.

"So I can have it?" someone unfamiliar said.

"As long as you don't mind watching Alex some of the time and doing some of the chores; yes, it's yours."

"Superb." Alex leaned forward a bit and saw that a redhead was nodding with a grin on her face. Alex thought she looked pretty. "When can I move in? I start law school in two weeks so it would be good if it could be before that."

"As soon as you wish. The room is empty and we'll be staying at home for the next week at the very least."

"Great."

Ian seemed to look down at some papers.

"Ah, I see you speak French."

"Yes, sir. I had originally planned to go to France but I had to give up on that."

"Perhaps you could help Alex practice his French then, if you have the time. He's still a beginner so it would be beneficial for him to speak with someone to improve."

"Of course. No problem. It'll be good for my French as well."

"Then we have a deal, Miss Starbright."

Alex could hear the smile in his uncle's voice. Whoever this was, his uncle liked her. And she was moving in. He moved a bit closer to the railing to get a better look.

"Alex!"

He must have moved too far. Alex hated getting caught.

"What have I said about eavesdropping?"

Alex quickly but silently walked down the stairs.

"Not to."

"A full sentence, please."

Alex placed himself a bit behind Ian, curiously looking at the young woman.

"You said that I was not to eavesdrop on you, and if I did I was not be caught, Ian," Alex dutifully recited from memory with a sombre expression.

The woman looked a bit surprised.

"Sorry," Alex added belatedly.

"That's fine, Alex." His uncle ruffled his hair. "I was just-"

A phone started ringing somewhere in the house.

Alex sighed knowing what came next.

"I'm sorry. I have to take this call," Ian said as he walked towards the stairs to get to his study. "You might as well get acquainted."

Ian disappeared up the stairs and into his study, locking his soundproofed -Alex had checked once with some yelling- door behind him.

Alex took a step forward to greet the young redheaded woman that apparently was coming to stay with them. He hoped she would be one of the better sitters. That or maybe Ian would realize that he didn't need one, though he knew that would never happen.

"So, Alex..." She looked a bit nervous, before she bent down and smiled at him. "I'm Jack. How do you do?"

Perhaps she wasn't so bad. She looked nice with that wild red hair.

And he thought her smile was the greatest smile he'd ever seen.


	5. V

_**Forget Them Not V**_

_Summary: Alex does and doesn't remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers. __A collection of connected oneshots._

* * *

"Oh, Alex!"

He had a lap full of Jack. He ignored the tell-tale sign of his stitches being pulled on too much. It didn't matter when it was compared to seeing Jack again. It felt like he'd been away for months. Had he been?

Alex groaned a bit as Jack leant back and she quickly sat back onto the bed, still holding onto his left hand.

"I'm sorry. I should have thought..."

"I'm fine, Jack."

She looked sceptically at him for moment before snorting.

"Fine? Fine?!" She looked him over quickly. "You're bandaged, there's this large bruise on your face that's turning purple, and what do you call those stitches? Decorations?"

"It comes with the job, I guess," replied Alex with a smile on his lips. "Proofs of doing my duty."

"Please don't joke about it, Alex. If they hadn't pulled you into this-"

"But they did, and I'm still here. I really just want to go home, Jack."

She considered him for a moment before letting go and rising from the bed. She nodded once before walking out of the door and down the hallway.

Alex watched her go curiously.

Ten minutes later his doctor was in his room giving him a last minute check-up.

* * *

He was nine and stoically pulling on his sweater, grimacing as his body protested the movement.

"Alex! What are you doing out of bed?"

"Dressing for breakfast?"

"Look, kiddo. You need to let your body rest. Didn't you listen to your uncle when he told you to stay in bed?"

"But, Jack, I've been resting for two days already. I want to do something. Something besides reading, that is."

Jack gave him a dubious look.

"Are you sure you should be up?"

"Yes!"

She gave him another look, this one a bit sterner.

"I know. Indoor voice, okay?"

She grinned and patted him on his head when he nodded silently.

"Good boy."

"I'm not a dog." Even so, he widened his eyes and pouted with his lips, doing exactly what Jack had said he should do to master the 'puppy look'. He thought he could pull it off decently now. "Please, Jack?"

"Oh, alright then," replied the housekeeper, watching her charge. "But you're staying on the couch. You're not ripping any of those stitches on my watch, young man."

Alex carefully saluted; "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

A bright smile lit up both of their faces.


	6. VI

_**Forget Them Not VI**_

_Summary: Alex does and doesn't remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers. __A collection of connected oneshots._

* * *

Alex walked up the stairs to his room, hissing slightly in pain as his body protested. The pain medication was wearing off and he still had about half an hour before he could safely take more.

He carefully took one step at a time, regulating his breathing and trying his best to just deal. It really wasn't all that bad; he just wasn't used to it yet.

Reaching his room he lay down on his back on the bed and just looked around. It felt good to be there in his room, on his bed and with his own stuff around him. It was strangely safe and familiar.

Beneath him, Jack was spending her ten minutes cooking on making a good meal to enjoy together. Perhaps he could convince her to take the meal up to his room. He didn't really want to go down again.

He breathed in deeply, thinking about everything and nothing.

His room was really clean, he noticed. No dust anywhere. Was this what Jack did when he was gone? Clean his room?

Alex knew that he certainly hadn't been here in the last weeks. So Jack apparently cleaned when she was worried. He didn't think it really fit. He'd seen Jack clean before, but she would usually do some cleaning here and there, every so often, and never long enough for her to get bored with it. Not that he could remember at least.

He was sorry. Sorry that he made her worry, and sorry that he still did this. Perhaps he really could have stopped before, but… He hadn't and he didn't really think he would. At the moment he wanted nothing more than to stay away from MI6, but at the same time, he knew he wouldn't.

His life was entangled in that world now. Even if it wasn't MI6 other things would pull him in; other agencies or new situations he could and would help with. Perhaps he had a complex there, a need to do something about the bad situations he seemed to land himself in. Instead of just letting the adults take care of it he often felt the need to get involved. And that caused Jack to worry.

He felt sorry for that.

He'd go down for dinner. Pretend he wasn't as hurt as Jack thought he was.

He owed it to her.

* * *

He was eleven and he loved 'running after a silly ball', as Jack had once called it.

Football was always fun and his team was great. It was definitely one of his favourite things to do when he had the time.

He kicked the ball in the direction of Matt, a classmate, and cheered in celebration with the rest of his team and the crowd when they got the first goal of the game.

It was a nice day for a game, the sun was shining at exactly the right angle for Alex and his Spanish teacher had told him that he was the best in class. It felt good being the best at something. But what made the day great were the two faces he recognized in the crowd.

Ian had been gone so much of the year. It was like he was never home anymore. He had even missed New Year's Eve. It had been weird celebrating with only Jack. He'd been angry at Ian when he came home, even with the apology and the gifts he brought with him.

His English teacher had told him that the Christmas Holidays and New Year's Eve were for family; Alex only had Ian and Jack, and yet Ian had left. He hated it; it was like something was lost now forever. Alex was angry at Ian.

And every time Ian missed something again he got angrier.

He understood, somewhat, that work was important, but he'd always thought that he was more important than work. Ian always said that, but it didn't feel like he meant it. It was unfair and Alex really disliked it. Did his uncle even care?

But the faces in the crowd said something else.

Ian and Jack were here. Both of them.

Alex felt like whooping and cheering and waving, but he had a game to finish.

He would jump on Ian later on and demand some ice cream.

But first he had a game to finish. The team relied on him and it wouldn't do to neglect them. As Ian had said; he had accepted a responsibility towards the team the moment he'd joined it. By joining it he'd been stating that he was willing to do his best for the team's sake. He had a duty towards the team. If it was within his power to grant it he would give them victory. Ian said that duties were important and that Alex should remember that.

Alex wanted to be a football player when he grew up, a professional one.

The crowd roared as he scored the last goal and Alex grinned as his school team were declared the winners. He loved football and he knew what he was going to aim to be, if only for this feeling of happiness.

Alex looked towards the crowd, spotting the grinning faces of Ian and Jack at the front.

His uncle had said he could be whatever he wanted when he grew up. He trusted his uncle. Ian never lied and if Ian said so it had to be true.

The knowledge of what he would become, what he could have, as a football player brought him more happiness than he thought he'd ever felt before.

He'd become one because Ian had said he could.


	7. VII

_**Forget Them Not VII**_

_Summary: Alex does and doesn't remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers. __A collection of connected oneshots._

* * *

Alex sat down for dinner with Jack, looking down at the bowl of quickly heated vegetable soup and the loaf of white bread on the table. A normal ten minute dinner for Jack to prepare, though neither of them particularly liked soup.

He was supposed to be able to stomach soup, but he was feeling nauseous. On the upside; he wasn't really in pain anymore, not after having taken the pain meds. On the downside; he didn't really feel like eating, a possible and probable side effect of his medication.

Alex lifted the spoon to his mouth, filled with warm soup, and swallowed carefully. He quickly took a drink of water in hopes of it staying down. He was supposed to be able to keep the rather bland soup down, though it didn't seem so easy.

Alex continued eating, slowly but surely devouring half his soup.

He was ignoring Jack's eyes on him skillfully, though the lack of conversation was harder to disguise.

"Alex?"

"Hm?"

"You're ill," she stated.

Alex tapped his bandages and gave his housekeeper a pointed look.

"You know what I mean," she said soberly. "You don't have to eat if you're just going to throw it up later."

"I need food," Alex said simply. "And I'm not going to throw it up. I'm just a bit nauseous."

Jack gave him an understanding look. "It's the pain meds, isn't it?"

"Probably."

"Go to bed, Alex. You can eat more tomorrow. You shouldn't overdo it on your first day out. I'd be afraid that the doctors would keep you with them the next time if you did," she said in a valiant try for humour.

Alex stopped eating for a moment before laying down his spoon. "You're right. I'll go to bed."

Jack looked at him as he stood up.

"I'll be up after I've cleaned up."

Alex nodded and gave Jack a tired smile. "Sure, Jack."

* * *

Alex was thirteen, still young and a bit uneasy.

"Are you sure about this, Ian?" He looked at the empty road in front of him and then down at the pedals. There were many things he wanted to learn, and this was one of them. But wasn't he just a bit too young for this? "I'm not."

However, Ian had insisted that it was time to learn, and when Ian insisted Alex usually went along for the ride.

Except, this time he was the one in control of the ride. He wasn't really sure if this was a good idea or not anymore.

He took another look at the empty road in front of him.

He was getting decidedly more convinced that this was a very bad idea with every minute he spent looking at the wheel and the road.

"Nonsense, Alex. You'll do fine. We've been through this several times already."

It was unusual to sit in a car with the steer wheel on the left side, but they weren't exactly in London anymore. Or in England for that matter.

Ian seemed to think it was better to do this while they were away on holiday. Alex had to agree that a distant place with only strangers was better to learn in, but he rather thought Ian was thinking more about Jack's possible reaction.

She wouldn't like this at all.

"You have fastened your seatbelt, haven't you?"

Alex looked down at the belt that crossed his chest and tugged; it was firm.

"Yes."

"Good. Mirror?"

Alex looked into the mirror, adjusted it slightly and made sure that he saw everything he needed to see.

"Yes."

"Your feet are reaching the pedals?"

Alex wriggled his feet and made sure he could thread on the three different pedals. He thought the question was a bit redundant; if he couldn't touch the pedals how was he going to drive at all?

"Yes, Ian."

Ian caught onto Alex's exasperated tone and grinned.

"Body, mind and soul with you?"

"Yes," Alex answered before adding, "I think both you and I would know if they weren't."

Ian nodded. "Then let's start."

"I'm not sure about this, Ian."

"Don't worry, Alex. You'll be fine."

"If you say so."

Alex carefully pushed down the clutch with his foot and clamped his hands around the wheel, heart thudding loudly in his chest.

He glanced at Ian, taking in his uncle's grin.

This was so not a good idea.


	8. VIII

_**Forget Them Not VII**_

_Summary: Alex does and doesn't remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers. __A collection of connected oneshots._

* * *

"Jack, you aren't serious?"

Alex looked down at the glass of water in his hands and immediately swallowed the water down with the pain meds so that he could set it down onto the night table.

He felt rather shocked at the moment. It just sounded so foreign to him. Alex certainly didn't feel like a child any longer. He didn't need it.

"Yes," she looked thoughtful for a moment, "I rather think I am."

"But, but...," he stuttered, "I'm not seven anymore, Jack. I'm much too old for that. I was too old for that the first time I met you."

"I'll have you know that I remember tucking you in when you were ten, so take that, Alex Rider."

She had a wicked grin and the glint in her eye told of danger; it usually showed up just before Alex did something embarrassing or stupid. Or alternatively before she was going to do something that he would feel was embarrassing and, even knowing he wouldn't like it, went on with doing it without caring. Jack liked teasing him.

Alex pushed himself up against the pillows and glared. He was not going to subject himself to that. Not now.

"Come on, kiddo," she said in a cheery tone, "Time to go to sleep."

"Do you have to tuck me in?"

"Do you have to be ill?"

He knew that this could drag on all night and he'd really rather just go to sleep. Even if it was fun to argue with Jack about things of little importance. Alex yawned. Sometimes it was better to just give in.

"Fine," he stated wearily, "Just this once."

Alex lay down and suffered the indignity of his housekeeper tucking him in late at night. She wished him sweet dreams and kissed him on his forehead, just like she used to do when he was a child.

"Night, Alex."

"Night, Jack."

As she switched off the light, he thought it wasn't all that bad.

It felt good to be able to just joke around with little care for anything else. He felt like a child at those times and that felt brilliant.

* * *

"Alex?"

His fourteen year old mind wandered aimlessly.

Alex gazed out of the window.

The window cleaners should have cleaned the window better than this. There was a smudge of black dirt in the middle of the glass pane, annoyingly obstructing his view of the clear blue sky. He frowned in annoyance.

If Ian hadn't been away at the moment Alex would have been planning a trip for the weekend with his uncle. Perhaps they could have gone biking or hiking somewhere. Just like in the old days.

But Ian was away.

As usual. As always.

It had been months since the last time they'd just vanished for one weekend into the woods or on some kind of spontaneous trip. Alex missed it.

Perhaps Jack and he could go do something instead. He was sure she would love to go out and do something special with him. They could go to the cinema or catch a train to-

But Jack wasn't Ian.

And Ian wasn't around.

"Alex, can you hear me or are you just ignoring me?"

Alex had forgotten for a moment, but he was in school and it was a weekday. They weren't even halfway through the school day yet. The teacher wasn't in the room; a boy had gotten a nosebleed and the teacher had accompanied him to the nurse. Alex privately thought that his classmate could have gotten there on his own.

"What, Tom?" He slouched in his seat and put his head onto the desk before him.

"You've been spacing out for a minute, Alex. And we need to finish the exercises before class ends! There's only fifteen minutes left."

"I'm done." He turned back to the view of the blue sky and wondered if he should buy ice cream on the way home.

"Alex, come on, help a friend out here. I don't get the third one."

He looked back at his friend. It was math and he knew Tom wasn't doing that well with the current topic.

"Have you even tried it yet?"

"Yes. I tried and whatever I've written doesn't sound right. Help me?"

"Fine. I'll help you out this once, but if Miss Harper finds out…"

"I take the blame. Got it!"

Perhaps he could share the ice cream with Tom.

"So, the third one..."


	9. IX

_**Forget Them Not IX**_

_Summary: Alex does and doesn't remember. Something happened, something that left him without any memories. Was it a mission that left him like this? Or was it something else? Alex remembers. __A collection of connected oneshots._

* * *

There were memories here, Alex thought. Memories of a lifetime.

On his walls were pictures of him and Ian and Jack. He knew that there was a picture of his parents in his drawer, carefully hidden away from plain sight. He didn't know when it was taken; Ian hadn't said. A year or two before he was born, Alex guessed from a sign in the background of the city picture. He rarely looked at it.

On the floor was a small ball bought in Spain. He'd gotten it on a return trip after Ian and his first stay there. Ian would throw it to him when he was bored at the airport or train station. It was a fond memory. There were other souvenirs placed around the room from other places that Ian used to bring back with him. Tucked away in his cupboard was a small American flag once given to him by Jack.

On his desk; a small travel card from Sabina and a picture of Tom covered in cake batter, a failed experiment. Residing with those keepsakes were mountains of homework that would soon be impossible to avoid or ignore. It was certainly a Herculean task.

Alex didn't feel quite up to it yet.

On his night table, in a big pile, were get-well cards. A joking one from Jack. Formal ones from Mrs. Jones, MI6 and the Prime Minister, who for some reason unknown to him had felt the need to congratulate him. Friendly ones from Tom, Sabina and James Sprintz. A confusing one from a man named Connor, stating simply: 'Forget them not'. A hasty one from Ms. Bedfordshire. Unexpected ones from Wolf, Ben and Tamara Knight.

They remembered him.

He remembered them.

He thought he must have most of his memories back by now. At the very least most of them.

He could remember everything he did with Ian, with Jack and his friends. He could remember what happened after his uncle's death and what he went through because of the so-called missions MI6 sent him on.

He could remember seeing people die, nearly dying several times himself, the relief of knowing that everything was going to be okay after all and even seeing the earth from space(he had wondered about that for a moment before it all fell into place).

He remembered his life.

Not all of the memories were good ones. Not all of the good ones were as good as they should have been with the memory of what had come after that. Some of them would have been better left forgotten. But they were his and they were there to stay.

He remembered.

* * *

Alex tried to calm his thudding heart as he crouched behind the crate. Any sound made would be one sound too much. He did his best to ignore his twisted ankle that was throbbing painfully along with with his heartbeat. He didn't have the time to care. Not in this situation. Not when a hurt ankle was nothing compared to imminent death.

MI6 had either dreadfully underestimated the League or dreadfully overestimated him. He wasn't quite sure which yet. Alex couldn't see a way of getting out of the harbour safely from where he was. He had set off the panic alarm, well-hidden in his shoe, but he doubted that he would get back-up quickly enough. He never seemed to so it was better to disregard the notion of actually being rescued.

Miracles were for idiots. Alex would rather do his best to get out of there on his own instead of just sitting to wait. Waiting never helped anyone.

The largest problem he could see were the guards, each armed with a gun. He couldn't make out what kind they were in the dark, but he was certain that the guns in the guards' hands could fire quickly enough to kill him should he try anything.

Alex fingered the computer chip in his pocket and considered his chances.

The loss of the computer chip had already been discovered, he knew that, and the guard had been tripled. No one was to make it out of here alive. They probably wouldn't even care if he died. Not even if it meant that the chip was endangered.

The League dealt with many things, the dangerous data chips containing deadly information on highly illegal and classified weapons for one, and they took revenge very seriously. He knew that. He'd seen it happen to a woman already. He didn't like thinking of her floating, dead form in the water. It didn't help his situation. He couldn't think of what might happen to him should he be caught.

It started raining. Heavily.

The veil of rain suddenly hid him from view and muffled the small sounds he would inevitably make while escaping. It was his one and only hope.

Alex started creeping around the crate and as soon as possible started jogging towards the only possible exit to the north. If he could get a drop on the guards he could make it. He had to.

He fingered the vial of toxin in his pocket as he met the first guard on his way to the gate. He pulled it out and managed to open it and make the guard inhale it before pulling away. He watched dispassionately as the guard bent over and clawed at his throat. Alex felt a bit guilty but quickly pushed it away. He didn't have time for compassion. Later maybe but not now.

He would just have to hope that the sound of coughing could be excused in the damp weather. It was certainly loud enough to attract attention.

Alex ignored it and quickly went past the guard and down the next corridor created by the crates.

Alex could see a gate as he peered around the corner at the end of the corridor. Unfortunately for him the man in front of it had a gun pointed in his direction. It didn't seem promising. But there had to be a way out of here. Some way for him to escape safely.

The sound of footsteps behind him made Alex tense up and start to turn around. He never made it. Something or someone slammed his head into the wall beside him and everything started to go out of focus.

There was something he was supposed to protect, something he had to do, but Alex couldn't quite remember what. He tried to get up but his body wouldn't cooperate. He tried to grab the legs of his attacker; there was nothing within reach.

Alex didn't know what to do. His eyesight was blurring and his body was useless. His ankle was throbbing painfully and everything was getting cold and wet. Suddenly a lot of sound started up around him. There was yelling and running and he thought he could hear gunfire in the distance. Something was happening, but Alex didn't know what.

He never saw the knife coming.

* * *

Fin.


End file.
